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Technology that moves the world
THE
MAGAZINE
OF ASME
09
No.
138
T
INFORMATION he industrial hype machine has not worked
this hard since the early days of the Internet.
The object of its affections is the full-on
mashup of manufacturing with modern in-
TECHNOLOGY formation technologies. This goes by many
names, from Industrie 4.0 and digital manufactur-
ing to cyberphysical systems and smartno, make
ON THE FACTORY that brilliantfactories.
What they all have in common is the use of
intelligent software and machines to interact with
one another (and with people) autonomously,
FLOOR PROMISES both in the factory and through the cloud. Accord-
ing to boosters, this new combination of brains
and muscle will revolutionize manufacturing in
A REVOLUTION ways that rival the introduction of steam, electric-
ity, and automation.
Beyond the hype, this could lead to some real
Less expensive IoT sensors and controllers that links a Bosch Rexroth controller with a
threaten to disrupt this status quo with the same humidity sensor. It automatically compensates
strategies that have slashed prices and boosted for changes in cardboard stiffness, which varies
the performance of consumer electronics for depending on whether the air is dry or soggy.
decades: simple construction, open standards, As the IoT takes hold, factory machines will
plug-and-play installation, ease of use, and the work together to keep products flowing, and
substitution of wireless data transfer for expen- adapt autonomously to their environment. They
sive cabling. will also learn from similar machines in other
At Siemens PLM Software, Alastair Orchard, factories around the worldbut only if they can
who leads the companys digital enterprise proj- rely on the cloud.
ect, is not trying to fight the rising tide.
We have to embrace the Internet of Things,
he said. We cant try to defend the shop floor INTO THE CLOUD
and force our customers to take the most expen-
sive and awkward way of doing things. We want Not long after the Soviet Union collapsed, Ger-
to preserve IoTs ability to quickly, simply and man manufacturers sensed an opportunity. To
cheaply get data. take advantage of lower labor costs, they began
Fortunately, years of mergers, acquisitions, and to build factories in Eastern European countries.
globalization have taught companies like Siemens Those firms had always trusted an intensely loyal
how to weave software and hardware from differ- workforce to guard their designs and trade secrets
ent vendors into a single system. closely within their factories. They were unsure
But are they prepared for the sudden prolifera- what might happen beyond their borders.
tion of cheap sensors that IoT is making possible? To maintain tight control over this information,
These devices will generate tsunamis of data, they began storing it in centralized corporate data
enabling machines to talk more fluently with centers. They gave local engineers access to only
one another while machine-learning algorithms
probe the information for better ways to run
the plant. But integrating data streams creates
Im done when I can launch a virtual product in a virtual
its own challenges, said Lihui Wang, an ASME model of my plant, then run it in my plant and the prod-
Fellow and well-known expert on digital manu-
facturing who chairs sustainable engineering at
uct behaves exactly like the simulations predicted.
Swedens Royal Institute of Technology.
I dont think many people realize the com- Stephan Biller, Chief Manufacturing
plexity of combining different types of data, Scientist, GE Global Research
Wang said. Even if we are talking only about dig-
its, we have to deal with the high volume, veloc- the documents they needed, and barred them
ity, and variety of measurements. And some data from roaming to other parts of the digital library.
is unstructured, like speech, photographs, and Today, data-driven manufacturers still want
drawings, which are more difficult to analyze. to hold intellectual property close, but they also
To transfer data among various devices, Ger- want to use centralized data centers to help man-
man motor drive and control giant Bosch Rexroth age shop floor production. In other words, they
tries to use open standards, said Thomas Buerger, want to use cloud computing to help run smart
the companys vice president of engineering auto- factories.
mation systems. Unfortunately, while some open There are good reasons to do it. Centralized,
standards exist, others are still works in progress. cloud-based software is always up-to-date. It
Nevertheless, Buerger argues that installing includes the latest security enhancements, and it
and integrating extra sensors is worth the fuss. runs on the latest IT equipment.
He points to a cardboard carton-folding machine Whats more, large data centers are highly ef-
Siemens'
chine begins to deviate from its allowancesdoes of equipment could rent it. Amberg plant
the plant notify a human specialist. Eventually, a global manufacturing network uses data-driven
In Amberg, there are 50 million conversations would emerge, and businesses and even individu- manufacturing to
each day between those agents and smart automa- als could rent machine time online the same way produce 12 million
controllers annually.
tion. They are saying: Set up correctly to do this. we book cars or hotel rooms online today, Schae- Only 0.001 percent
Who can do the next process? Are you ready? fer said. There would be no lasting contracts, have any defects.
Logistics, route me over there. Check and double- supply chains, or physical footprint. This would
check. Its an almost continuous conversation, allow for entirely new ways of inventing and mak-
and it gives us our flexibility, Orchard said. ing breakthrough products, Schaefer said.
In the future, those data-driven conversations When Schaefer trotted out his cloud-based de-
will make plants even more adaptive and au- sign and manufacturing paradigm at conferences
tonomous. Just as apps and Internet connectivity five years ago, engineers were skeptical. Today,
spurred innovation in smartphones, data-driven they are listening.
factories are likely to evolve in new ways After all, we live in a world where a single
For example, Dirk Schaefer, as associate profes- factory supports 50 million digital conversations
sor of design engineering at University of Bath every day. Who knows where those dialogues
in the United Kingdom, sees a time when highly could lead? ME
connected factories will one day be able to sell
machine time as a service. Firms that need more ALAN S. BROWN is associate editor at Mechanical Engineering
output to meet demand or replace a broken piece magazine.